GoWings1905

I fault the refs and the Sharks. I have no respect for a team that dives as much as they have and well I never respected NHL officials to begin with.

I don't want a well-officated game on Tuesday. Screw that - I want ten powerplays for the Red Wings and some calls against the Sharks at the worst time, preferably diving at least five times. I'm bitter, I want some justice for the worst officiated hockey game I can remember. Unless the ref rocks a stache and number 7, I don't trust any of these other tools for a second.

I'll take Eaves being relatively quiet over Williams every day of the week. Even when Eaves isn't really producing offensively, at least he isn't hurting the team in the process. Williams is typically always noticeable, most often not for the right reasons. Eaves is also very good on the penalty kill with Helm. Not that the Red Wings don't have other players to step in on the PK, but Eaves still brings speed and energy. I'd rather have Brad May than Williams half-assing it at this point.

We should expect this by now after the Final last year, but I find it somewhat odd that they couldn't start Vancouver/Chicago last night considering neither team has played since Sunday and Monday respectively and neither team traveled far in the first round either. Whatever. Trying to figure out why the NHL does things the way it does is a lost cause.

How does the best ref by far (McCreary) not even get selected for the second round? I honestly don't like any names on that list besides O'Rourke and Peel who I feel neutral towards, at least for the time being...

SJS/DET: 4-2 CHI/VAN: 4-3 PIT/MTL: 4-1 BOS/PHI: 4-2

I'll probably get ripped for this, but anything above a "C" for Jimmy is being generous. He was either lights out or awful, which amounts to an average grade for me. Don't get me wrong, I thought he was a huge factor in the wins but it goes both ways. He played a major role in the losses too, as the team and Howard himself were inconsistent throughout the entire series. Other than that, Brad Stuart gets an A+ from me. Don't let the one mistake in Game 6 take away from a brilliantly played series by Stuart.

Right. Because answering a dick move by starting a scene is the way to respond when your team is winning 4-1 and dominating. Why give the Coyotes anything to rally around going into the third period? Yandle got what he deserved - a tee time for tomorrow.

Agreed completely. Brad Stuart had a terrific series. Maybe the best he has played with the Red Wings and that's a huge compliment to him. Stuart is an absolute beast in the playoffs. I think you hit the nail on the head though - some people tend to remember only the bad with Stuart like the turnover in Game 6 or the huge mistakes in Game 7 against Pittsburgh. Stuart does everything so solid most of the time, it's easy to overlook what he brings and not appreciate it.

Z was easily the Red Wings best player in the first round. After that, I would go Stuart and then Filppula.

You came to a Red Wings board expecting praise for the Penguins? Go back to your board of Pens fans, most of which started watching in 2008 like you it sounds.

Even if Washington wins tomorrow, they have been exposed again. Pittsburgh has another cakewalk to the Final. The only team that can beat them in the East is themselves. I hate it, but I don't see them losing four times to any of that mediocre competition remaining in that awful conference.

Game 6 on Sunday exemplified this perfectly. The Red Wings got three early consecutive powerplays in a row. I said at the time "they better take advantage of this because they are getting the next eight penalties." Exaggeration obviously somewhat, but it turned out way closer than I expected or wanted. The Red Wings got the next five penalties, four in the second period alone which was the difference in the game. I'm not going to sit here and blame the officiating for the Red Wings poor result. They got what they deserved on Sunday. However, spending half of the period killing penalties is going to have a negative effect on a team's ability to win the game. Everything has to be fair in this league - the salary cap, the number of penalties being called, teams in piss poor hockey markets put on a level playing field while shunning the franchises that keep the NHL afloat. The Red Wings dominated play in the first period, therefore you expect them to draw more penalties as a result. Well, that only does you good if you score because that hard effort is going to turn around and be called against you at a later point. We don't need penalties to be even - the harder working team deserves to have more chances on the powerplay. It's another failed effort by Bettman to promote close games regardless of the situation.

I'll take it over the alternative... Honestly though, scheduling in the NHL is as poor as the officiating.

Not that I agree with Fiddler at all, this just proves that everyone feels their team is getting the short-end of the officiating. 0-for-19 though Vernon, you've had your fair share of chances there dude.

Ugh... I hate Martin Erat so much right now. Use some common sense dude: your team is WINNING and you have more guys on the ice. How about playing keep-away and running the clock out instead of a blind pass for a goal you don't need? Chicago is so lucky. Erat should have been first star.

Heart: 3-2 Red Wings Head: 2-1 Coyotes

Sounds like a solid idea. Hopefully Jimmy responds with an Ozzie-like playoff performance.

Somewhere Jake Ryan is smiling... Ninety-Sux!

I'd hold off on this unless the Red Wings come out flat and/or fall behind in game four. Zetterberg has been hands-down the Wings best player so far with Filppula close behind. Their line with Bertuzzi has accounted for a good portion of the Red Wings offense. Pavel and Mule need to step it up and get some goals quickly or this series will be done rather quickly. The thing about Babcock that bothers me sometimes is he waits too long to make changes, which again goes back to him being stubborn as a coach. Don't get me wrong, I think a great deal of him as a coach but he's as stubborn as they come. He needs to treat tomorrow night like game four last year in Anaheim - the Red Wings gave up a quick goal and he right away switched up the lines which worked brilliantly. I hope the Red Wings don't need a spark like changing lines to get them motivated in a must-win game on their home ice. Let's just hope some of the best players on the team start playing like it.

IF the Red Wings win tomorrow... Red Wings in six. IF the Coyotoes win tomorrow... our summer starts on Friday.

Really? While I agree the team hasn't been very good, Howard very much cost the Red Wings a chance to win today. Howard was bad - the second and especially the fourth goal were HUGE momentum killers. The stats show Jimmy has been anything but impressive and the offense bailed him out in the win scoring seven. The fact is during the regular season, Jimmy typically always gave the Red Wings a chance to win. In the playoffs, mistakes are amplified as there is no margin of error for poor goals especially against a team like the Coyotes. Jimmy didn't even give the Red Wings a chance to win, which is what you hope for from a goalie on a day when the team didn't appear to have much anyways. That fourth goal was deflating - you could feel it from the fans at the Joe and see it in the body language of the Red Wings. You are arguing against an argument that no one here is even making. None of us have said to start Osgood. It isn't realistic at this point thanks to Babcock's coaching decisions. I'll say it again: another performance like today from Howard in game four and this series is done on Friday.

I honestly wouldn't mind it, but Babcock made it so going to Ozzie at this point is no longer even an option. It would be a huge risk going to a goalie who has made two starts in 2010, even one with the success Ozzie has put up the past two playoff runs. I had a bad feeling this would happen in the playoffs. Jimmy just hasn't been very good and today he was truly awful. The team didn't play that strong in front of him but it didn't matter because he didn't even give them a chance to win. The second and fourth goals were momentum killers. He has to control the rebound on Wolski's goal and the fourth was downright pathetic. I'm not even that mad at Jimmy... it's a tough position to be in and he just hasn't lived up to the expectations he had coming off a super regular season. I'm extremely pissed at Babcock for completely mishandling the goaltender situation. He put the Red Wings in the scenario of sink or swim with Jimmy and now the team is in a tough position with no real alternative because of Babcock's decision. You HAVE to get Ozzie more games in case this did happen - there were a bunch of us saying that numerous times late in the year. Jimmy Howard has to be better or this series isn't coming back to Detroit. Mike Babcock made it this way.

Playoff games at the Joe are the best! If they come out with the same intensity as Friday, the Red Wings will take control of the series. Let's Go Red Wings!

For all the crap you give people for saying anything even remotely negative about Filppula, you turn around and do the same thing to Hudler. Who cares if it was on the powerplay? Sure, about half of his points came on the powerplay but he almost equaled those numbers at even strength playing third and fourth line minutes with inferior talent. Hudler is probably the most gifted offensive talent the Red Wings would have outside of the big three (Z, Pavel, Mule). Besides your argument doesn't really hold much ground if you want to compare him to Filppula. Fil only had seven more even strength points than Hudler and Fil played nearly three more minutes per game. The Red Wings could definitely use Jiri Hudler for the very strong offensive skill he has proven in his career. Give credit where it's due like you demand constantly for Filppula.